Tandem/Shaml celebrated a successful year at a final event in Berlin in June with local visitors and the participants from over ten countries in Europe and the Arab region.

The celebration of a year of collaboration between cultural managers in Europe and the Arab region included presentations from the Tandem partners, who have been working together for the past 12 months to create cultural co-productions drawing on their shared expertise. Working across borders and within their own community, the paired Tandem/Shaml participants have engaged locals and international audiences in diverse projects – from contemporary art and new tools of communication to interactive research about architecture, revolution, dance and performing arts.

The event also included a thought-provoking roundtable on the role of artists during times of revolt, involving participants from Egypt, Iran, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey alongside the European attendees. Check out the facebook photos to see who attended the two-day event.

Realising a Tandem/Shaml project marks the start of a long-term partnership between cultural changemakers. Hatem Hassan from Alexandria, Egypt (video above) described the project he and Inga Lace from Vilnus worked on in this short interview. You can also visit this page to learn more about their project.

Alongside the installations and films on show, one Tandem presented their theatre piece developed over the Tandem period, based on the experiences of participants Mudar El Hejji in Damascus in Syria. It was created by gathering the stories of residents in Damascus and was performed throughout the ZKU-Berlin space. Tandem participant, Stella Cristoflini tells us more (video below – with apologies for the poor sound quality in the first part of the interview.)